Speak

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Written through the eyes of a struggling ninth grader, Melinda Sordino has no friends and no where to turn. Of course, Anderson wants to keep the reader intrigued and doesn't say why this poor girl has no friends until you feel her pain. Everyone in the school thinks she is disgusting. Everyone except one new girl who doesn't know any better: Melinda is a freak, an outcast, not worth your time. Melinda keeps an open mind and sometimes finds her way out of humiliation. The Merryweather High outcast called the cops at a party the summer before, but no one knew exactly why. The longer she keeps it a secret, the more people despise her, and her new friend eventually deserts Melinda to join a weird clique known as The Marthas. After almost a year of feeling alone and misunderstood, the truth is finally let out, just not the ideal way. What happened to Melinda at the party happens once again to her, but this time, it occurs in the place she feels most comfortable. Laurie Halse Anderson did a brilliant job creating Melinda Sordino. This chilling and humorous story had me hooked. This is a great book that you should buy right away. Another recent novel I'd like to mention -- that I loved -- is The Loser's Club by Richard Perez.

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: The book Speak was a great book! The moment i picked it up to the moment i put it down i LOVED it. It is a great story about a teenager struggling through their first year of highschool as an outcast. Everybody in the whole school hates her because she called the cops at a "get together" the year before but, nobody really knows the truth behind why she called the cops. What really happened was she was raped and she was too afraid to tell everybody! I think that any highschool student or just anybody would love the book Speak. It's one of my favorites!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I'm a senior in high school so therefore i don't like to read that much. When the librarian chose the book for me i looked at it and thought "oh yeah another stupid book i get to read" but once i read the first couple of chapters i was hooked! This is a great book, even though it's about rape, it puts you in the head of someone elses trauma and how it affects them. The fact that the boy who did it thought it was funny would just push me to tell even faster. If you're a person who doesn't like to read but has to choose this book! It's a very well written book that is worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I'm a senior in high school and i don't really like to read that much but when i was told to read this book from the librarian i thought it would be just another stupid book. But once i read the first couple of pages, i was hooked. Even thought the book is about rape, i liked being able to see inside a head that has actually "experienced" the trauma and to see how they react is really interesting. and everyone knows what it's like your freshman year...can you imagine how horrible it was for someone who called the cops on a senior party? That sucks! I would recommend this book to anyone who has to read a book, but doesn't like to read!! You'll love it!

Rating:
Summary: Speak
Review: The book Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, was an excellent and exciting book to read. This book was fiction, encountered in the authors dreams, although can very well be a real life of a teenager.
This book was about a teenager girl, just about to enter high school, and a terrible secret she has to keep hidden. Her friends, along with everyone else, hate her for crashing a summer party by calling the cops. No one talks to her, and she gets nothing but snobby comments and evil stares. But there is a reason why she called the cops at that party, but she is forced to keep a secret.
This book was very memorable and taught me a very good life lesson. As you get older, and begin to enter the life of parties and different friends, you are going to be subjected to many things that put you in harms way. It's important not to get caught up in them, and remember what's truly important, which is dignity toward yourself.
The possibilities this book suggests is that keeping a secret that effects you in negative ways is never the right thing to do. This book showed a lack of confidence expressed in many of the characters, which I thought she have been added. I cant personally relate this book to anything that drastic in my life, but there has been times where I have kept a secret that I wanted to tell so bad, but new if I did, it would hurt someone else. People face those kinds of chooses everyday, whether its something small, or something life threatening.
I think Speak is an amazing book to read. It makes you feel like you are living the life of Melinda, the victim of the rapist, and makes you think about all the problems with rape in the world today. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: An EXCELLENT portrayal of teen life!
Review: "Speak" is a wonderful book, even for the reluctant reader.
Although the book centers around a rape, the way in which it is addressed is mature and beneficial for teens.
The writing is tight and moves at a pretty good pace. The suspense and empathy portrayed is wonderful, as is the reality of high-school life. The characters are very realistic and true to what life is like in most American high-school social scenes.
Laurie Halse Anderson does a great job-this book is better than her follow-up novel, Catalyst.

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: I loved this book. Melinda's sarcasm makes such a dark plot so hilariously funny and fun to read. While the only some people can relate to the issue itself, many people can relate to Melinda herself. It deserved every single award.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: SPEAK
The book Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a teenage girl, Melinda, who is just starting high school with a bad reputation. She ended an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Everyone hates her for it, including her good old friends. No one understands why she called the cops except her. Something happened to her that night of the party, and she's trying to slip away from it unnoticed. Her head is the only safe place to be, but the memory still remains vivid in her mind.
It's incredible how Anderson maintains Melinda's sanity while inside she wants to fly away. Melinda has courage and honesty and it helps her to get through this time. It's amazing how Anderson knows, or remembers, so much of the feelings and dealings of being a teenager.
I love this book and how well Anderson describes Melinda's thoughts and dreams. The whole book just has a feeling to it. You can feel what the characters feel, whether it is frustration, fright, happiness, or sadness. Her writing is a great example of "show, not tell" method because it is described so well that you can feel what the characters feel.

Rating:
Summary: A dramatic novel you can't put down until you're done
Review: Speak is such an extremely insightful book. Laurie Halse Anderson tells a story of a girl, Melinda, entering her freshmen year at a new high school. Everyone at her school hates her because of an end of school party she went to last year where she called the cops. They are so mean to her and she has lost all of her best friends from last year. They throw food at her in the lunch room and spread nasty rumors. They just assume she called the cops because the party was getting too wild but they don¡¦t know what really happened. She meets a new girl, Heather, but soon she too leaves her for ¡§The Marthas¡¨. Her parents aren¡¦t much help either; all day long they are gone at work or yelling at her or each other. Melinda finds it very hard to speak and finally becomes mute and only communicates with her parents by post it notes. I never wanted to put this book down, I just read and read until I was finished. It is a wonderful and exciting book for young readers and will really open their minds.

Rating:
Summary: If you dont read this book you are for sure missing out...
Review: Wow! This book was definitly amazing. Its about a girl named Melinda going through highschool with everyone hating her for something she had to do. Through out the story she wants so badly to speak up and tell everyone what really happened at the party and the truth on why she called the police but she just cant find the words to speak up. This book definitly shows a lot of courage, lonliness, false friendship,and judgement. The way she handled the situtation was incredible... The way the author explained the feelings and the thought process going through her mind was the best I have ever seen. Before this book I had never been a very big reader but this book totally changed my oppinons... This is definitly a book you need to consider!